


We're OK

by giraffeter



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Anal Sex, And then back to friends, Camping, Fluff and Smut, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Minor Barry Bluejeans/Lup, Minor Kravitz/Taako (The Adventure Zone), Porn with Feelings, The Stolen Century, brief mention of past trauma, taagnus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-11
Updated: 2017-12-11
Packaged: 2019-02-13 16:25:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12987903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/giraffeter/pseuds/giraffeter
Summary: Taako is a rude, conceited, secretive bastard, but once he decides he loves you he will defend you to the death – has defended Magnus, to the death, on more than one occasion. Taako has died in his arms; Magnus has died in Taako’s. Most people don’t get to experience the bond that creates with a person, because after it happens, they’re, you know, dead.Magnus knows him so well, but right now, running his thumb over the bare skin of the other man’s ankle, he has no idea what Taako is thinking.He’d be lying if he said he’d never thought about it. But Taako is his best friend.(Interdimensional travel gets lonely. But can you really ever get back to normal, after you've slept with your best friend? Set midway through The Stolen Century.)





	We're OK

This time, when the Light of Creation comes down, they see it fall. They watch it all the way down into the forest, and everyone lets out the breath they’d been holding since they arrived. This year should be a piece of cake.

They set the ship down in a field at the edge of the woods; based on the Light’s trajectory, it should only be a day or two’s walk into the trees. Magnus immediately volunteers for the search party – it was bitter cold on the last planet, and he’s been going stir-crazy on the ship.

“It looks like there’s a large-ish town to the north not far from here,” says Lucretia. “I wouldn’t mind taking a look, maybe see if I can get some new pens.” Lup and Barry decide to go along, no doubt to get some quality hand-holding time in in a new place. Cap’nport stays with the ship.

Merle says, “I’ll go with you Mag, about time I got back out in nature.” They’re all still coping with the lost hope that Merle would get through to the Hunger. Magnus is kind of looking forward to spending some time with the little guy – he’s been dead for so much of the last 20 years.

To Magnus’ mild surprise, Taako volunteers to come look for the light, too.  “Listen, homie, if I have to wander through one more bumblefuck little town, I’m going to _lose_ my _mind._  I would rather go _actual camping_ than make chit-chat with another set of humble townsfolk.”

~*~

Lup and Barry are driving Taako up the walls. Like, it’s great that they found love and all, he’s sincerely very happy for them, but _holy crap_ is it boring. Barry is like, “oh, whatever you want to do, babe,” and then Lup is like, “but we always do what I want to do,” and they give each other googly eyes and then just do whatever Lup wants anyway. Honestly? It’s a bit much.

It will be good getting out of the ship for a while, even if it does mean camping out.  Besides, Taako’s been waiting for a chance to wear the boots he got a few worlds ago – they have a sensible low heel for walking, and make his calves look amazing. He thinks about pairing them with his leather pants, but decides that leather on leather is too much Look for tramping around in the forest with Magnus and Merle, so he throws on some fitted breeches in a stretchy, breathable fabric.  He grabs his cloak and heads out, to discover that the other guys have gotten all of the camping gear together in the time he took to change. Perfection.

~*~

They walk for most of the day, sometimes talking, sometimes falling into companionable silence.  The forest is dense, but not completely overgrown; it’s clear that people from the nearby town come here to hike and camp, and they’re able to pick up a trail that winds along a stream in the general direction they’re going.

Late in the afternoon, they walk into a clearing and there’s the Light, just sitting in the branches of a tree. Magnus swings Merle up onto his shoulders and Merle grabs it. Just like that.

“Sweet!” says Taako. “Now we have a whole year to fuck around,” but Magnus notices that his grin trembles a bit. Last year, they’d spent months trying to chip the Light out of a fucking ice lake, and Magnus lost a few fingers to frostbite and Lucretia almost died of hypothermia, and they _still_ didn’t get the damn thing. At least that world was uninhabited.

The walk back feels less like a mission and more like a party. Merle starts telling this increasingly lewd joke about a young dwarven woman and an enchanted potato. Taako is all wound up and keeps egging him on, even though they’ve both heard the joke before.

Taako can be sullen or withdrawn or punishingly rude, but when he is _on,_ you can’t help but be dazzled. He’s got this crazy energy that can make you feel like the most important person in the world – or no, more like _he’s_ the most important person in the world, and he’s chosen to bestow his attention on you, like a gift you can’t help being grateful for. Magnus always has a hard time not competing for that attention, when it’s available.

Right before the punchline to Merle’s joke, Taako strikes a dramatic pose and shouts it out before Merle has a chance: “…and then the lawyer says, YOU’RE LUCKY I STOPPED BY!”

 _Total dick move,_ thinks Magnus. _I love it._

Merle is shaking his fist and shouting at Taako for ruining his joke. Taako darts behind Magnus, yelling, “Watch where you’re swinging that fist, friendo, you almost punched me right in the dick!”

Magnus throws an arm around each of them. “You kids quit fighting, or no one’s getting ice cream tonight.”

Merle perks up at that. “There’s ice cream?”

Taako hides his face in Magnus’ shoulder and whispers, “ _Oh my God, dude,_ ” then says, louder, “No, there’s…there’s no _ice cream,_ Merle. We’re _camping._ ”

“Well, I don’t know!” the dwarf protests, and Magnus _thinks_ he’s joking? It’s hard to tell, with him.

“So, wait wait wait wait wait. I wanna get this straight. You thought that we were gonna make camp somewhere,” Taako cackles, “…and then we’d all, we’d put up _tents_ …and then somehow we would produce _frozen desserts?_  In the middle of the goddamn _forest?_ ”

Merle chortles right along with him. “I don’t know, you’re a wizard, maybe you were planning to just… _magic_ some up or something.”

“Sure, bubbeleh. Okay. Well, no, I’m not going to do that.”

The ice cream situation resolved, Merle wanders on ahead, stopping to pick some little white flowers to braid into his beard. Magnus loops his arm back around Taako’s shoulders and they walk along behind. Taako smells good, like the orange blossom soap he uses, and like musty damp wool from his cloak. His body is warm against Magnus’ side, and fits bizarrely perfectly under his arm.

It’s…nice. It feels nice, OK?

“I can’t believe that guy,” Taako mutters, “like I’m wasting a spell slot on magic ice cream.” He breaks away and strikes another dramatic pose in the middle of the trail. “Doesn’t he _know who I am?_ ”

“Oh, I’m sorry, who are you again?”

The full force of that manic energy hits Magnus as he grins. “I’m TAAKO!”

Taako’s hoots of laughter startle a bird out of a tree up ahead, which just makes him laugh harder. In spite of himself, Magnus spends the rest of the walk juggling pinecones, singing songs, anything to hear Taako’s crazy laugh again.

~*~

It’s getting dark as they walk back. Taako wasn’t really expecting to sleep in his own bed tonight, and fortunately they’ve found a great spot to camp, a short walk away from where the stream they’d been following deepens and widens into a little pool. There’s a clearing nearby, and judging by the remnants of old campfires they’re not the first group of travelers to have made camp there.

Magnus and Merle set up the tents while Taako starts whipping up a meal. They’ve mostly got dried stuff, but he’s been collecting wild sorrel and fennel pollen and these little oniony bulbs as they walk, and manages to transform the stuff they brought plus the stuff he’s foraged into something halfway decent, because he is a wizard in more ways than one. Taako’s pretty sure Magnus would eat an actual tire if he got hungry enough, but he and Merle both make the requisite noises about how good it is and what an amazing chef Taako is – which, it is, and he is, so yeah. Not gonna argue on that one.

 _I don’t even know what’s going on with Magnus tonight_ , Taako thinks as he eats. Everything the fighter’s done today seems like it’s trying to send some kind of coded message. Magnus spent the entire afternoon trying to make Taako laugh, or mock-wrestling him, or pretending to throw him in the stream.  

Is the poor big dummy flirting with him? Is that crazy? Not that Taako’s complaining about the attention, but, like, _what_?

“This is great, Taako,” says Merle around a mouthful of food.

“Yeah,” Magnus adds, “way better than the stuff we eat on the Starblaster.”

“Oh fuck you very much, Mag,” Taako shoots back. “You don’t like it, you could have learned to cook any time in the last 50 years, but I don’t see you chucklefucks lining up to practice your knife skills in the galley.” He snatches Magnus’ plate away in faux outrage and starts to walk off with it, but before he can, the bigger man grabs him around the waist and hauls him back.

“Watch the hair, my dude!” Taako yelps, as Magnus pins his arms to his sides with one meaty arm, and takes the plate back with the other. They’re both laughing, but they make eye contact and Taako swears he is not making this up – there is a straight-up _moment_ there.

This is new. This could be interesting.

~*~

When Magnus joined the IPRE, the idea of boning down with some hot alien chicks was, if not a deciding factor, at least a fun perk of the job. His friends gave him all kinds of shit about the inter-dimensional boot-knocking he was in for (and all of those guys are probably dead now, everyone he’s ever known or seen or touched is dead or far, far beyond reach except the seven of them, and Magnus doesn’t think about that. Ever).

He didn’t really consider that not every world would have human, or even humanoid, residents. He also didn’t know about the Hunger (how could he have known?). Even after seeing what the Hunger could do to a world, Magnus was still stoked the first time the Starblaster found a place with other humans. A lot of that was because he was getting pretty sick of everyone else on the ship, but some of it was for sure because he hadn’t gotten laid in way too long.

On that world, the first human world, there was a woman who worked in a bar he liked to go to. She had big, curly hair, and she laughed a lot, but he’d also seen her pull a crossbow in one smooth motion when people started shit in the bar. Her name was Anna. He was up-front with her about only being in town for a year and then leaving for literally ever, and she laughed that big laugh of hers and said good, most men wanted to save her from her life of drudgery and she meant to own that bar someday.

After Magnus watched the Hunger tear apart her town, he was more careful not to get attached. At this point, none of them allows themselves to learn anything, to feel anything, about the people on the worlds they land on until they find the Light. There’s only so many times you can give your heart to something you know will die.

That said, people have needs. There have been plenty of worlds where a small-but-buxom woman (or a particularly voluptuous plant, although everyone tries to pretend they don’t know about that) has caught Merle’s eye. For someone who’s so guarded with his emotions, Taako’s always been pretty casual about sex; every so often there’s a young man who can’t meet his gaze without blushing, or an older man who meets his gaze and holds it for too long, and Taako mutters something obscene and slinks off for the night or the weekend. Lucretia is more inclined to write about her feelings than actually act on them, but Magnus knows there was an archivist in the Library of Dis who she spent a lot of time with. For Barry, there’s never been anybody but Lup, and for Lup, it’s been a long time since there was anyone but Barry.

Only Davenport has remained separate from the people they meet. He has the six of them, the mission, and the ship, and according to him that’s all he needs.

Since that first human world, there have been plenty of women for Magnus: bold women; sly women; smart, tough, funny women; warrior women who wanted to see if he fucked as good as he fought (verdict: pretty damn close). And, yes, occasionally there is a man who can’t meet his gaze without blushing, or one who holds his gaze too long without looking away, although that’s always been less frequent for him.

Over time, though, meaningless sex has started to feel…well, pretty meaningless. He’s spent the last 50 years searching, running, fighting. When he dreams, it’s of being crushed, or choking, or bleeding to death.  He’s a seventy-year-old man in a twenty-year-old’s body. It’s getting harder to shove all that down and flirt with someone who he’s just going to leave forever, anyway. He used to want to get married someday, maybe have some kids. Now he just wants to stop running.

All of which is to say, it’s been a while, at this point, since Magnus has gotten any. So maybe he gets a bit _snuggly_ with his friends from time to time. He’s an affectionate guy. It doesn’t mean anything, everyone knows that.

~*~

After dinner, Taako joins the other two, sitting on blankets around the fire. Merle pulls out a bottle of this blackberry mead he got from these monks a few cycles back and they pass it around. It’s supremely gross, super sweet with no complexity to it, but when it comes to getting their relax on, it’s definitely working.

Merle and Magnus are trying to remember the words to this drinking song the monks would sing.

“And if there’s nothing in our glasses…”

“…everyone can kiss our asses!”

“No, that’s not it, it’s like, ‘If there’s nothing in our glasses, then the something something passes.”

Taako’s new boots have turned out to be less comfy than he thought they’d be.  They’ve been killing him all day, actually, but we all suffer for fashion, don’t we? Taking them off is a relief, though, and he sighs extravagantly and stretches his feet out into Magnus’ lap. The fighter rests a hand on Taako’s ankle and keeps singing.

Taako _never_ thought he would be this casual with people who aren’t Lup. If you had told him at the start that one day he’d be plopping down next to Magnus Burnsides and throwing his legs over Magnus’, feeling comfortable just lolling around with a person, Taako would have laughed in your face. For most of his adult life, the only people he’s let touch him are total strangers (people you don’t care about can’t hurt you), or his Inner Circle, which until the IPRE was exactly two elves wide.

He couldn’t tell you the exact moment when that circle expanded to include the rest of the Starblaster crew, but he could tell you it probably started with Magnus. Folksy, eager, big-hearted Magnus, with his clumsy feet and surprisingly deft hands. A guy who will murder his way through a small army, and then cry because he can’t save their planet. A guy who enlisted for a multi-dimensional voyage of mystery, and all he packed was weapons and candy. A guy who just wants everyone to be safe and happy all the time, who needs physical contact like plants need sunshine. A guy whose default response to strong emotion of any kind is hugging.

Taako spent about a decade having conversations with Magnus about Boundaries and Not Touching, and the big guy was mostly really good about it. Just being around him, though, the little casual gestures of affection he has start to rub off on you (for lack of a better term). Everybody on the ship just gradually started patting each other on the back more, hugging more, piling together on the couch instead of spreading out around the room. Taako had to admit Magnus had gotten under his skin the first time he found himself letting Magnus braid his hair.

Magnus is the second person in Taako’s entire life that he ever felt fully comfortable around, and that’s helped him feel comfortable around the rest of the crew. Sometimes it feels like no one else is really _real_ , just the seven of them in their little bubble. It’s restful, in a way that Taako hadn’t expected, to lounge around in a big pile of people (not just any people, natch, only His People), and it’s Magnus’ _jam_. It’s been good for him, being around Magnus, and if you told Magnus that, Taako would call you a goddamn liar.

The way Magnus is touching him tonight, though, feels…different. Not _un_ comfortable, exactly – far from it, actually – but he’s getting a zingy energy from the touch of those warm, callused hands that he hasn’t felt in a while. Between that and the sheer relief of finding the Light this early, Taako is way too wired to think about sleep any time soon.

~*~

Magnus hasn’t missed the fact that Taako is beautiful. It would be hard to miss even if he didn’t talk about it all the time.  The twins are just so _shiny_ , with all that golden hair and perfect skin and flashy jewelry. They catch the eye.

He even made a pass at Lup once, way early on, before he knew how Barry felt about her. She laughed until she cried.  He asked her to keep it to herself, so of course she immediately told Taako about it and the two of them ribbed him mercilessly about it for ages.

It’s different though, now, that was decades ago at this point. He didn’t even really know Taako back then, but he knows him now.

He knows that Taako can make a cake out of surprisingly few ingredients. He knows Taako’s hands are never still, and that if he doesn’t have something to fiddle with he’ll start twisting one strand of his hair around his thumb and forefinger, over and over until you think it’s going to drive you insane.  He knows that Taako is drawn to shiny things like a magpie, and if you have something he likes, it will end up in his room sooner or later. He knows that when Taako’s around, everything takes on an edge of drama and glamor - colors seem brighter, jokes seem funnier.

He knows that in a fight, Taako’s back will find Lup’s without either of them even looking at each other. He knows Taako wakes up screaming sometimes. They’ve never talked about it, but from the scars he knows that someone, at some point, has beaten Taako savagely.

Taako is a rude, conceited, secretive bastard, but once he decides he loves you he will defend you to the death – has defended Magnus, to the death, on more than one occasion. Taako has died in his arms; Magnus has died in Taako’s. Most people don’t get to experience the bond that creates with a person, because after it happens, they’re, you know, dead.

Magnus knows him so well, but right now, running his thumb over the bare skin of the other man’s ankle, he has no idea what Taako is thinking.

He’d be lying if he said he’d never thought about it. But Taako is his best friend.

~*~

Merle finally hauls himself to his feet, hiccupping a little, and says, “Well, time to turn in.” They both say goodnight, but Taako notices that neither of them make a move to get up.

Merle is maybe the loudest person Taako’s ever known, and trust him on this one, he’s been living on a spaceship with the guy for 50 years. You would not think one little dude, as tall as Taako’s butt, would be able to make as many crashing, grunting, and groaning sounds getting into a tent as he does. Like, it’s a _tent,_ it’s made of _fabric._ What is there even to crash into in there?

At first, they’re just sitting there listening to him thrash around, and then Magnus starts chuckling softly. Taako tries to shush him, but Merle knocks something over in his tent with a clatter and a flurry of curse words and the elf starts to giggle, too. Magnus grabs his sleeve and goes “shhh!” so he goes “SHHH!” back, louder, which naturally turns into a shush fight, until they’re both laughing too hard to shush anymore.

“GOOD NIGHT, BOYS,” Merle yells pointedly from his tent.

“G’night, Merle!” Magnus sings back, shooting Taako a sidelong glance filled with mirth.

 _I wonder what it would be like to kiss him_ , Taako thinks. _Nope! No I do not, I definitely do not wonder that._

The big man sighs contentedly and leans back against a fallen log that some previous campers had dragged up next to the fire pit. He throws his arm around Taako’s shoulders and pulls him close in that unself-conscious way he has, and they sit there for a while, looking up at the stars.

“It’s weird how the constellations are sometimes the same on other worlds as they were on ours,” Magnus finally muses.

“Really?”

“Yeah.” He points up at a patch of sky that is indistinguishable, to Taako, from any other patch of sky. “See, there’s The Warrior, and right below it, The Fool’s Tower.”

“If you say so, homie, elf constellations are different.”

“They are? Do you see any you recognize?”

“Oh yeah, definitely.” Taako points at another random patch of sky. “Over there is, um, Gary, Lord of Muffins. And then over there is, is, The Angry Badger.”

Magnus elbows him in the side. “Asshole.”

“No, really, see those three stars? Those are the badger’s sharp teeth, and then the group of five above them, those are his, um, his knapsack.”

Magnus shakes his head, laughing. His face is close, close enough that Taako can feel the heat radiating off of him (the guy’s always been a big old furnace). There’s another long moment.

_Why the fuck not._

Magnus is still smiling when Taako leans in and kisses him. He can feel Magnus smiling into his mouth, but his lips respond.

“Taako…” he says quietly, when the kiss breaks. He might think the firelight hides his blush, but Taako can see just fine in the dark. “I mean…you know this isn’t usually my…thing, right?”

“I know,” Taako replies, trying to keep his voice light.

The big man nods, glancing away, and Taako is about to drop the subject entirely when Magnus looks back at him. Looks at his mouth. Swallows. Then leans in to kiss him again.

Magnus’ lips are rough and chapped, his beard scrapes against Taako’s skin, but the kiss is surprisingly soft, for all of that. He tastes like blackberry mead. Taako is still half-smiling, and internally he’s thinking of half a dozen cutting remarks in case this turns out to be a joke, but the kiss deepens, lengthens, and wipes the smile right off his face. Magnus puts his hand up to Taako’s jaw to hold him in place, and when he opens his mouth Magnus’ tongue is there and ready.

_Holy shit._

~*~

Taako inhales sharply when Magnus’ tongue meets his, and makes a breathy sound halfway between a sigh and a hum, and Magnus is completely lost.

Kissing Taako is like drowning, his mouth and nose filled with the scent of him. He sucks Taako’s lower lip between his teeth, tracing his fingers along the wizard’s jaw, his shoulder. Taako makes a pleased sound, running his tongue against Magnus’ teeth, pulling back every so often to just lightly brush Magnus’ lips with his before diving back in.

Closer, Magnus needs to be closer to him, warm and breathing fast. He pulls the other man into his lap, knees on either side of his hips, running his hands over Taako’s long, slender thighs. Taako breaks the kiss, looking down at Magnus with a wicked grin, and grinds against his cock. The arousal in Magnus’ belly spreads through him, like plunging into warm water, and he is getting very hard, very fast.

Of course, Taako is wearing this blouse with about a million tiny buttons all the way up the collar. Magnus briefly considers just ripping it off him, but can’t think of a faster way to break the mood with Taako than to destroy his clothes, so just fumbles the buttons open as best he can until, impatiently, Taako pulls the shirt off over his head and there he is.

With all the lounging around he does, you might expect Taako to be soft, but underneath all the silks and ruffles is the body of a man who grew up fighting. He’s lean and wiry, skin and bone and sinew and not much else. Magnus brushes rough hands down his sides, sliding his thumbs down Taako’s hard, flat stomach, coming to rest on his jutting hip bones. Taako grinds against him again, and Magnus finds himself groaning into the other man’s mouth.

His skin feels almost impossibly smooth under Magnus’ hands, even in the places where he can feel the faint traces of old scars. He’s suddenly aware of how rough his hands are; Taako’s skin seems so delicate, Magnus is half worried that the calluses will scrape him.

In the firelight the wizard has taken on an otherworldly, almost feral look, his eyes dark and hungry. Magnus reaches up and pulls the tie from Taako’s hair, which falls down around his bare shoulders. When he leans down for another kiss, it drops to either side of their faces like a curtain. Intoxicated, Magnus buries his face in his throat, luxuriating in the taste of him, the smell of him, the feel of his skin.

~*~

Taako’s seen Magnus bare-chested plenty of times. He would have told you that he knew the other man’s body pretty well (so he’s looked, you try being around a body like Magnus’ without sneaking a peek once in awhile), but working down his buttons, Taako is reminded that seeing and touching are two different things.

There’s a thick mat of hair in the middle of Magnus’ chest, which spreads out to cover his stomach and shoulders. It’s softer than Taako would have thought, less prickly. He’s not always into hairy dudes, but it works on Magnus. He literally the only guy Taako’s ever seen with back hair who actually pulls it off.

Magnus sucks in his stomach slightly as Taako runs his palm across it – he knows the big guy is self-conscious about the little beer belly he has, and if their bodies didn’t reset every year it might be more of a problem, but Taako likes the slight softness it gives his body, in contrast to all that hard-packed muscle. He’s always wanted to touch this big, pitted scar on Magnus’ right shoulder, from where he was stabbed with a spear in a melee, and Magnus shivers when he does.

This is the part Taako likes, skin sliding on skin, a mouth sucking a bruise onto his throat, moans and whimpers in the dark. This is the part he’s good at, the easy part when no one has to say anything they don’t mean. Magnus’ strong hands slide up his back; the old panic surges up in him, and he’s halfway to pulling the hands away, but remembers: this is Magnus. He’s seen the scars. It feels weird. It feels safe. His hands are big enough to fit Taako’s entire shoulder blade in one palm.

Growing up like Taako did, there weren’t a ton of dating options. Not many kids in his neighborhood (any of the neighborhoods he grew up in) would cop to being gay. What he did find were plenty of straight boys who would be willing to suspend disbelief and pretend he was just a pretty, exceptionally flat-chested girl for an afternoon. He knew what they were doing, but as a lonely, lovesick, attention-starved teen, he was happy to play along. It never worked out. For one thing, sex with someone who’s trying to pretend you don’t have a cock is almost never going to be any good.

He’s pretty sure that’s not what’s going on with Magnus – he’s pretty sure Magnus likes boys, at least a little, and he’s also pretty sure Magnus wouldn’t do that - but Taako also promised himself a long time ago that he wouldn’t make out with straight boys anymore, and the way Magnus is enjoying his skin and hair makes him wonder if the other man is picturing someone else.

 _Only one way to find out_. He brings Magnus’ right hand to his mouth and kisses the workworn palm, holding eye contact. Magnus stares back at him, breathing heavily, wet lips gleaming in the low light. Not breaking his gaze, Taako presses Magnus’ hand to his cheek, then starts pushing it down his body. Magnus’ breath hitches as his fingers trail down Taako’s chest, his stomach, and then Taako firmly places Magnus’ hand on his own erect cock.

If the fighter is feeling any hesitation, he doesn’t show it. He palms Taako through his breeches, and Taako is suddenly glad he wore these instead of the leather ones because there’s only a thin layer of fabric between them and _oh shit_ that’s nice, that is so nice.  He tries to stay cool, but can’t help making a little noise as Magnus moves his hand up and down. Magnus reaches up and recaptures Taako’s mouth with his, probing deep with his tongue, stealing his breath.

Now Taako can’t unbuckle the guy’s belt fast enough, and when he grips Magnus in his hand he _snarls_ and sinks his teeth into Taako’s shoulder. The pain of the bite combines with the pleasure of Magnus’ hand on him, and Taako bucks his hips forward, pressing his cock harder into the big man’s hand. Magnus gets the hint and reaches into Taako’s pants to pull him free.

They stay like that for a while, stroking each other, his forehead resting against Magnus’, their ragged breaths mingling. The other man’s touch is clumsy, at first, but he finds a groove pretty quickly, adding a twist and a squeeze. He drags his thumb up the underside of Taako’s cock and across the head, smiling at the way it makes the elf gasp. Taako picks up the pace in response, and soon Magnus is the one gasping.

“I want you,” Magnus murmurs, his voice rough and needy, his free hand stroking through Taako’s hair. “God, I want you, I want you so bad.”

 _This is probably a bad idea._ Taako doesn’t particularly want to think about that right now, though, not with Magnus’ dick throbbing in his hand and his mouth swollen and burning from Magnus’ beard. “You want me?” he asks instead. “What do you want to do?”

The hand in Taako’s hair becomes a fist yanking his head back. Magnus’ mouth is hot on his ear. “ _I want to throw you down on that blanket and fuck you ‘til you can’t see_.”

 _That’s what I’m talking about_ , thinks Taako. “Then _fuck me,_ Magnus.”

The fighter gives a predatory leer, picks Taako up and throws him down.

~*~

They fumble and curse and peel each other out of their remaining clothing. Naked, Magnus pins Taako to the blanket beneath him, enjoying the way their bodies line up together. He nibbles Taako’s collarbone, making him jump and shudder, so he does it again and again, biting down his chest.

Taako starts writhing around underneath him, reaching up above his head – is he trying to move away? – no, he’s just reaching for his bag. He feels around in the pockets one-handed, pausing periodically to kiss Magnus again, then goes “a- _ha!_ ” and pulls out the little bottle of cooking oil he carries with him.

He hands it to Magnus. Oh. Right. Um.

Taako arches an eyebrow. “You OK, buddy?”

“Yeah! Yeah. I just…you sure you want to do this?”

That wicked grin again. “ _Hell_ yeah.” That’s good enough for Magnus.

When Magnus slides the first oiled-up finger into him, Taako arches up into him and groans, so long and loud it makes the fighter laugh a little. Drama queen. “Shhh, you’re gonna wake up Merle.”

He whines and presses down against Magnus’ fingers, but waves a hand in a contorted gesture toward Merle’s tent and mutters something. The sound of dwarf snores cuts off abruptly. “There, that should keep sound out for the next hour,” he pants.

“Awesome.” Magnus starts gently stroking into him, past the tight ring of heat and into his velvety insides. Taako’s eyes drift closed. He’s whispering a low string of filthy words, his back arching, heels digging into the blanket as Magnus works a second finger in.

Magnus isn’t ordinarily a patient man, but with this, he doesn’t mind taking his time. He presses his fingers in, finding the places that make Taako shudder and groan, spreading his fingers apart and working in a third. Even once he’s pretty sure Taako is ready for him, Magnus keeps fingering him, loving how the other man _keens_ when he finds just the right angle. He can tell Taako wants it from the way he’s lifting his hips, but keeps teasing him. Taako’s such a tease, about everything; it’s about time he got a taste of his own medicine.

Finally, Taako starts getting frustrated. “Oh my god, just – ah – just _give it to me_ already,” he yells, thumping his head back against the blanket.

Magnus is kneeling between the elf’s long legs, stroking his own cock with his free hand, oiling it up. “You want this?”

Taako pushes himself up on one elbow, smirking in his patented style. “I’m not going to beg,” he says archly, but his pupils are blown wide and his breath is coming fast. Magnus bears him back down and twists his fingers again, finding that angle he’d found before; Taako’s eyes fly open and he strangles a cry.

“Tell me you want it,” he breathes in Taako’s pointed ear.

“I want it – oh _fuck_ – I want you,” the other man grinds out, shameless now.

Magnus withdraws his hand and shoves Taako’s knees to his chest, but checks himself at the flash of alarm in the wizard’s eyes. This is not the time to be rough, not now, not with him. Take a deep breath.

Slowly, intently, Magnus presses into him. Taako squirms and whimpers and grunts, but keeps his legs open. Magnus watches his friend’s face, ready to stop if it’s too much, if he’s going too deep. Taako doesn’t stop him, and soon his cock is buried to the hilt, surrounded by soft heat and twitching muscle. Magnus waits there, breathing, until Taako opens his eyes and looks up at him. It’s bizarrely moving. He wants to tell Taako how much he means to him, but knows the elf well enough to know it would be the worst possible thing to say right now. So Magnus just kisses him, long and sweet, and starts to move inside him.

From there, it’s just the two of them, moving together in the dying firelight. The taste of Taako’s sweat. Feeling his thigh tremble as Magnus presses it back, opening him up, quickening the pace. Taako moves his hand to touch himself, and Magnus is there before he can, slicking him up with oil, trying to match the rhythm he’s got going.

They’ve both stopped trying to stifle the noises they’re making. Taako cries out “Oh fuck, oh fuck oh fuck _Magnus_ ” and comes in a warm gout against their stomachs. Seeing him like that, all artifice stripped away, completely bare and real, it’s too much for Magnus to bear. He presses his face into Taako’s neck as the orgasm rips through him, shouting into his friend’s throat.

~*~

Afterward, Magnus stays on top of Taako, inside of him, for a little while, lazily kissing his ear. Taako feels the tingling flush of orgasm start to disperse, leaving his limbs feeling loose. His heartbeat starts to slow to normal, but he doesn’t feel relaxed at all.

Eventually, Magnus rolls off of him and stares up at the sky. “Wow,” he breathes.

Awareness of their surroundings starts creeping back in on Taako. The chill from the ground is seeping through the blanket, and he can feel a rock under his back. There’s cum drying on his stomach and running down the crack of his ass. Without the weight of Magnus on top of him, the night air is cool; he shivers a bit as the sweat starts to evaporate.

 _This was stupid_ , he thinks. _I was stupid, how could I be this stupid?_

The other reason Taako stopped hooking up with straight boys – besides the fact that it was never any good, not like this, this was fucking _excellent_ , but still – is that as soon as they come, they can’t pretend you’re a girl anymore.

They start to feel ashamed, and they start to hate themselves for what they’ve done. And it’s much, much easier for them, instead of hating themselves, to hate you. Once they start to hate you, a lot of the time, they feel like they have to hurt you. To remind themselves who they are, with respect to you. If you’re lucky, they just hurt you with words. He hasn’t always been lucky.

Taako lies on his back next to the fire, looking up at the stars, and waits for Magnus to hurt him.

~*~

Snuggled up to Taako, Magnus start to trace his fingers over the planes of the smaller man’s chest and stomach. Taako gives him a hard, fierce, unreadable look.

“That was…awesome,” Magnus ventures.

Taako exhales heavily, and smiles, but the smile doesn’t reach his eyes. “Yeah.”

“Are you…are you OK?” _Are we OK_ , is what Magnus really wants to ask, but can’t.

The elf stretches languidly. “I’m doing great, baby, how are you doing?” He’s lying, but Magnus doesn’t know why. All he can think of to do, in this situation, is tell the truth. “I’m also great,” he says, brushing his lips against Taako’s cheek. “You’re amazing.”

The elf’s mouth twists wryly, and he seems like he’s about to say something, but he doesn’t. It’s a reaction you come to expect, living with Taako, but Magnus hadn’t expected to see it right now.

Abruptly, Taako pops to his feet, snagging his hair tie from the pile of their clothes as he does. “I’m going to go get cleaned up,” he mutters. He pads off into the darkness toward the stream, naked, pulling his hair up on top of his head as he goes.

Magnus sits there bewildered for a minute, then realizes: _fuck, I need to go after him_. But he can’t see in the dark. _Fucking_ elves _, man._ He hastily lights a torch from the embers of the fire and charges off down the path after him. _Great, just running around naked in the forest, don’t mind me._

When he gets to the pool, he sees that Taako has cast Dancing Lights; little balls of lavender flame hover in the air around him. It’s pretty, and kind of spooky. Taako is standing waist-deep in the water, his hair a messy pile on top of his head. The enchanted light makes the scars on his back gleam vivid silver.

He turns and looks at Magnus, and gives him that same unreadable stare. There’s a bruise darkening on his neck, a bite mark on his shoulder. _I guess I did get a little rough, but hell, it seemed like he_ liked _that_ , Magnus tells himself miserably. _Is that why he’s looking at me like that?_ He’d seemed so eager before. _If I’ve hurt him, I don’t know what I’ll do._

~*~

Magnus emerges from the woods at the water’s edge and says “hey” gently, the way he does to animals that might bolt. Taako sinks back into the pool until only his head is above the water. It feels less naked that way.

Seemingly unbothered by the retreat, the fighter wades into the water, sucking in his breath at the cold. He stops about a foot away.

 _What is he even doing here?_ Taako asks himself, stomach in knots. _I gave him space, I left him alone to figure stuff out. Why has he come after me?_

“Taako?” Magnus asks. “Are you…mad at me? Did I do something wrong?”

Taako thinks about the first time Lup died. He fell apart a little. He knew she would be back at the end of the year, but he is…not great, without her, in some ways he’s not proud of. He doesn’t do well. No one was really fooled by his attempts to cover that up. He remembers Magnus coming to sit next to him on the couch in the common room, with this little worried furrow between his eyebrows. If Magnus had tried to touch him, or God forbid talk to him, Taako probably would have screamed, but he didn’t. He just sat there with him. That day, and the next day, and the next, as long as Taako needed. He never said anything about it, he just sat with him. Now Magnus’ eyebrows are drawn together in that same look of concern.

It’s just such a _Magnus_ response, to fuck Taako’s brains out and then worry he’s mad at him. The knot in Taako’s stomach starts to relax. “No,” he sighs, “no, you didn’t do anything wrong, everything’s OK.”

“Because, I don’t want this to fuck everything up between us.”

OK, got it. He’s come to give the I-really-like-you-but-more-as-a-friend speech. But like, fair enough, Taako doesn’t want it to fuck everything up either, and it’s not like he’s looking to make Magnus his boyfriend or anything.

“It doesn’t have to fuck anything up, Mag. It’s just sex, it’s not a big deal.” The bigger man nods, but the little furrow remains. Taako takes a deep breath and continues, “we probably shouldn’t make this, like…a regular thing, though.”

Magnus keeps nodding, more thoughtfully now. “OK. No, yeah, you’re probably right.”

They look at each other for a moment, not sure what to say next. Presently, a sly smile steals over Magnus’ face. “That was great, though.”

Taako laughs, more out of relief than anything else. “Yeah, that was pretty incredible.”

Magnus grabs his wrist and pulls him close, his skin chilly in the water. “ _You’re_ incredible,” he whispers, kissing him softly.

Well. No one ever said Taako couldn’t take a compliment. “I know,” he smiles back.

“You’re my best friend. I love you, you know that, right?” Magnus asks, rubbing a hand lightly up and down Taako’s arm.

Half a dozen jokes and insults bubble up to Taako’s lips, the way they do whenever someone’s getting too emotional. This is Magnus, though, so he just nods and says, “I know.” He doesn’t trust himself to say anything more.

“So that’s it?” Magnus asks. “We just go back to how we were, like nothing ever happened?”

Taako rolls his eyes. “No, dingus. We go back to how we were, like it _did_ happen, but it doesn’t fucking define our friendship.”

The fighter gives him a big Magnus grin, and picks him up in a bone-crushing hug, and he knows they’re going to be OK.

 

EPILOGUE

 

Taako is packing. Magnus is helping, or really Barry and Lup and Kravitz are helping and Magnus is wandering back and forth trying not to get in the way. He knew Taako would move out of the moonbase – there’s no reason to stay, now – but he’s still having trouble wrapping his brain around the part where Tres Horny Boys won’t all be sharing a dorm anymore.

The last couple of months have been full of the strange sensation of memories drifting to the surface of his mind. He’ll be opening a door and remember his room at the Conservatory. He’ll see a flower and remember Merle digging in a garden on some planet, 70 years ago. It’s weird and disorienting. _I’m over a hundred years old_ , he tells himself periodically.

Merle is already gone, on some beach with his stubby toes in the sand. Magnus wishes he had stayed - not just because he misses the little guy, but also because getting all of Taako’s shit moved out is proving to be a gigantic pain in the ass. Every so often, Lup or Barry or Magnus will be putting something in a box and say “hey, this is _mine!”_ Taako just crosses his eyes or blows a kiss and tries to sneak whatever it is back into his boxes when no one is looking.

The morning of move-out day, he comes out of his bedroom to see Taako standing in the common area. Taako turns, his hair falling down over his shoulder, smirking at him, and Magnus is suddenly poleaxed by the memory of kissing him. His mouth fills with the taste of skin and sweat and campfire smoke and _what._

_How did I not remember this until just now?_

~*~

Taako turns around to give Magnus shit for not helping out more, and sees a look on his face that’s usually only there right after someone has punched him right in the gut.

“Magnus?” he asks, momentarily concerned the dude’s having a stroke or something. Magnus blushes a deep tomato red, right up to the roots of his hair, and gawks at him, open-mouthed. Taako takes a step toward him, and Magnus almost drops the box he’s carrying, but fumbles around with it and finally manages to clutch it to his chest.

“You OK, Mag?”

A smile tries to break across the big man’s face, gets about halfway and falters. “I’m sorry, I just remembered…do you remember? That time when we, um, when you and I, uh…?”

 _Oh. Haha_ , thinks Taako. “Yeah, I remember.” Taako remembered a couple weeks ago. He kinda figured Magnus was just being cool about it, but apparently not.

“That was, um. So, uh…that happened.”

 _OK, this is hilarious_. “Yup, yes it sure did.”

Kravitz comes up behind Taako and puts his arms around his waist. He likes to slide one ice-cold hand up Taako’s stomach under his shirt, because it makes him yelp and jump. Brat.

“You about ready to go, babe?” he murmurs in Taako’s ear. He can feel Kravitz’ voice rumble in his chest against his back and it is _embarrassing_ how much he likes Kravitz. He didn’t know another person could make you feel this kind of bolt of stupid happiness. He finally understands why Barry and Lup were always so annoying all the time (now that he remembers that that was a thing). It turns out being annoying with your boyfriend all the time is kind of totally awesome.

Magnus has been trying to hide how sad he is that Taako’s leaving, which means he’s been wandering around looking like a kicked puppy instead of...Taako’s not sure, whatever he would be doing if he weren’t trying to put a brave face on it. Falling on the floor and crying? Punching the walls? Falling on the floor, crying, and then punching the walls?

At Kravitz’ question, though, the blush drains back out of Magnus’ face and he just looks lost.

Taako gently takes the box from Magnus’ hands and gives it to Kravitz. “This needs to go down. I’m right behind you,” he adds, in response to his boyfriend’s pointed glance at the clock.

“Taako, I don’t…know…what to say right now.” Magnus twists his hands together. “I’m really going to miss you.”

Taako grabs Magnus’ hand, so he’ll stop fidgeting. “You poor big dummy. You are going to see me _all the time._ You’re coming over _next week_ so I can cook for you.”

Oh, shit, the dude is trying not to cry. Taako does not have it in him to deal with crying Magnus right now. _Come on, buddy, keep it together._ “I know,” Magnus rasps, “I’m being stupid. Go ahead, I’ll see you next week.”

Taako steps in to him, and Magnus lifts him off the floor in a hug. He holds Magnus tight for a minute, and whispers, “You’re my best friend. I love you, you know that, right?”

Magnus nods. Taako kisses him on the cheek, and steps back. On his way out the door, he breezes, “I know you just remembered that one night, but don’t forget to remember everything after that.”

~*~

And over the next few weeks, Magnus does remember everything after that. He remembers that things were awkward for a couple days, but one morning it was just like everything slotted back in its normal spot, and it was fine. He remembers that no one died that year.

He remembers traveling together for another few decades. He remembers the time Taako tried to make cookies with flour from these ground-up nuts that made everyone hallucinate and then vomit for days. He remembers the night Lup became a lich, sitting up with Taako in silence, passing a bottle between them. He remembers the time Merle gave them all lice and they had to shave their heads, and Taako didn’t talk to Merle for a month. He remembers sloppily making out with Taako one super-drunk Candlenights, and then realizing that neither of them really wanted to do anything further.

He remembers meeting Taako again, here, and it feeling like home, and not knowing why. He remembers that Taako threw his soul out of his body to pull him out of the ethereal plane. He remembers that they saved the world.

He remembers that they were OK. And they are OK. And they’re gonna be OK.

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first fanfic I've written in...maybe 15 years? I just couldn't get these boys out of my head. 
> 
> I definitely don't think Taako and Magnus are OTP (I love Kravitz and am Ride or Die for Julia Burnsides), but I also don't think the seven birds flew around in space for 100 years without anybody hooking up with each other.
> 
> Thanks for reading (and thanks Demma for taking the time to beta)!
> 
> ETA: I have a tumblr for this pseud now! Come say hi https://giraffeter.tumblr.com


End file.
